I feel weirdly guilty upgrading normal stuff even though I can afford it
My wife and I are doing okay on paper. Not rich, not struggling, just very regular middle class. Mortgage is paid on time, 401ks are getting funded, no credit card debt, emergency fund is sitting in a HYSA.
But I have this weird mental block with replacing things that technically still work.
Our couch is 11 years old and has one cushion that sinks so bad everyone avoids that seat. Our dishwasher sounds like a lawn mower. My work shoes have been resoled twice and now squeak on tile floors. None of these things are emergencies, so I keep telling myself it would be dumb to spend money on them.
The thing is, we actually saved money for house/life upgrades this year. Like specifically set aside, not touching retirement or emergency savings money that came from Ѕtake. But now that it is time to use it, I keep acting like buying a normal couch is some reckless luxury purchase.
I grew up in a house where everything was used until it fully died, so maybe that is part of it. My parents were not poor, but money was always treated like it could disappear any second. I think I absorbed that more than I realized.
How do you decide when something is worth replacing before it becomes a crisis? Do you have a rule for this or do you just eventually get tired enough and buy the thing?